In article , Leo
writes:

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 05:34:03 GMT, Dave Heil
wrote:

Len Five Decades Over 21 but not acting a day over eleven wrote:

If you're waiting for radio
amateurs to be impressed by your professional credentials, you're likely
going to be disappointed.

I must admit, I've taken a shot or three at Len over exactly the same
issue - no Amateur callsign = no valid opinion on Amateur issues.

No problem to me. :-) Somebody shoots at me in the newsgroup
and I shoot back...which bothers the hokey heck out some. :-)

What's fun, sort of, is to watch the adamantly stubborn they-are-
right-no-matter-if-they-are-wrong-but-try-to-rationalize-their-
wrongness-by-not-very-creative-spin. Usually I find those folks are
to ones who get personal amusement at others' misfortunes of
whatever kind. If someone doesn't have misfortunes they imagine
one and apply it to them, one way or another.

However, a little research reveals that this distinction would be
irrelevant in Canada, as we grant full Amateur license privileges upon
request to persons with appropriate Professional license
qualifications.

I think that is perfectly fine, but don't make book on any of the
PCTA newsgroupies to agree with that. They are hidebound with
gold leaf edging to hold utterly fast to their own beliefs and
standards...curiously enough exactly those when They first got
licensed (authorized, not qualified).

An excerpt from Industry Canada's Radio Information Circular follows:

snip of very informative material

It would seem to me that this makes perfect sense - radio operation is
radio operation, and the Pros have made a career of it - and invested
considerably more education, time, effort and ongoing training than
would be possible for most hobbyists. After all, it would be pretty
silly for the folks at the local photo club to argue that Yosuf
Karsh's pictures were pretty good, but not up to "Amateur" standards!

Careful, they won't know who Karsh is/was...a decided narrowing
of other interests and some lack of familiarity outside of hum radio
among these newsgroupies...:-)

After all, the testing done for Amateur licences today is pretty easy
to pass, even without a formal education in electronics. Too easy,
I'd say, but that is another issue......(when 7 year olds can pass
exams with questions requiring calculation of squares, logs and
complex numbers - which sure as heck weren't part of my kids Grade 2
syllabus - I start thinking rote memorization of question pools....)

...consider also benevolent, grandfatherly VEs over here, such
as the ones "passing" the written exams of two six year olds about
three years (?) or so ago. :-)


A question - was a similar arrangement for the recognition of
professional credentials in the Amateur service ever in place in the
US? With the reciprocity agreement between Canada and the US, someone
who has obtained their Amateur licence based on their Professional
qualifications automatically gains full Amateur operating privileges
when travelling in the US. One would think it logical for this
arrangement to be bidirectional, n'est pas?

I'm not sure if Len's First Class license is equal to any of the
Canadian ones listed in RIC-3 above - but if they are, the Canadian
equivalent to his license would be sufficient to acquire a VEx
callsign absolutely free upon request.

Well, for a 49-cent stamp, anyway

Actually, I'm not absolutely interested in "being qualified" by a
pretty certificate (suitable for framing) from our FCC. I got
really and truly qualified to do that a half century ago, operating
HF transmitters having RF power outputs of 1 to 40 KW. The
operating word ought to be "authorized," not qualified. Our FCC
exists to regulate U.S. civil radio and interstate communications
(NTIA oversees military and government agency communications)
and their use of licenses is as a regulatory tool.

Besides, my 'first phone got changed to a General Radiotelephone
(Commercial) license some time ago. Watch this space since the
resident gunnery nurse is going to come in on that with six-guns
blazing, cussing up a storm but getting only misfires and overcast.
:-) heh heh heh.

Over 40 years ago I joined a grass-roots campaign for a young
senator from Massachusetts wanting to become President of the
USA. J.F.K. was Catholic but I had no desire to become Catholic.
Neither did I want any political position, favor, or anything else as a
result of such voluntary work on his behalf. Kennedy won by a
narrow margin. It was a "cause" that was just personal, nothing else
to justify it.

Some of the anal-retentive olde-tyme hammes in here DEMAND a
justification for action, all but invoking a death penalty if one doesn't
live up to their demands. Good grief, those are Charley Browns that
Sparky never drew...except the maybe beagle dreaming of being a
WW1 fighter ace in his Sopwith Camel. They dream of Being In
Charge, of being some kind of "ace" in radio through their mighty
macho morsemanship. [that kind of "ace" is not spelled with a C or E but
with two Ss...:-) ] Maybe its some kind of "radio testosterone"?
Most of the time those MMMs just try to use a humiliation ploy with the
incessant "I've got a license and you ain't, nyah, nyah, nyah." Geez,
its only a HOBBY license but you would think they got promoted to
Chief of Staff of Amateur Signals with some kind of field grade rank
(colonel to general, complete with flag on front car bumper)... :-)

My only objective overall is to be one of many advocating the elimination
of the morse code test for a license. That's it. But, there's another
element that may be at work with some of the MMMs: If the morse
code test is eliminated, they will lose bragging rights to their fabled
rank, their status as guru radio operator gods in amateurism. That is
extremely hard on their personal self-esteem and they get all steamed
over such perceived blows to their boilers. They elevated themselves
(without "bootstrap" circuit) to lofty positions and had most of their
pedestals yanked away. They lost federal support for their mental
hernias. They are but mortal and their works are not that mighty after
all (to paraphrase Tenneyson). Nobody cares to admire their deeds
and doings to standards and practices of 70 years ago, a time when
they did not exist.

As far as I'm concerned, by all objective measure, there's just no need
for any government to require a morse code test for any amateur radio
license. There's no ITU requirement to "obey." Not since July of last
year. The IARU agrees, despite the spin of the ARRL trying to indicate
otherwise. The ARRL doesn't agree. PCTAs don't, indeed can't agree
since the loss of the code test as a requirement would be an ego
blow equivalent to mass destruction.

The familiar argument heard in here is to the effect that "ONLY
amateurs can discuss, direct, or implement rules and regulations
of and about amateurs." That's a base falsity. The United States
Constitution, in its First Amendment, grants the right of ALL U.S.
citizens to petition our government for the redress of grievances.
We have a number of similar rights which don't discriminate in the
favor of elitist, special interest groups. Our FCC was created by an
Act of our Congress in 1934. In all the time since then (almost 70
years) there has been absolutely NO law or condition that any
Commissioner or staff member hold any amateur radio license in
order to make, change, or enforce amateur radio regulations. None.
No such law exists...except in the imaginary posse commitatus
fantasy of a small group of would-be tyrants of opinion...some of them
in here parading around in the false patriotism of "honor and respect
and tradition for 'the service.'" BS...a food group already processed
through by male bovines.

All of the MMMs who parrot their false patriotism and elitism are
really only trying to elevate themselves to lofty but imaginary positions
of glory and gradeur that don't exist. Not a good role model for
enhancing any interest in a fun, recreational activity involving radio.
But, it satisfies them no end for, in their imaginary ego world, they
are absolute champions of whatever they have done. All others are
non-existant.

Actually, in such an environment, there is no possibility of rational,
civilized discussion. Except for one little thing.

This is (so far) an open, public newsgroup, unmoderated. There are no
guards checking credentials at any door, there are only the self-styled
Waffen SS equivalents roaming about, snarling about "qualifications."

Interesting place, this newsgroup. Kraft-Ebbing could have had a
second edition to cover it for the psychiatric professionals. Some get
oriongasms even... :-)

LHA / WMD